The Dallas County Commission is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to implement the Dallas County Family Preservation Program. The purpose is to develop a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, trauma-informed, best-practices family-based alternative sentencing program for justice-involved parents/primary caregivers and their children and youth. Expected outcomes include a multi-disciplinary team to identify potential parents/primary caregivers early and to engage, enroll, and provide resources and skills necessary to move cases from the traditional docket to alternatives, which will benefit children, youth, and families by empowering them with healthy life skills, building upon strengths and addressing potential challenges, increasing supportive services, and reducing parental incarceration.
CASA for Children of DC is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to, along with the Freedom Child Foundation, strengthen family-based interventions and support for justice-involved parents and their children and improve their outcomes. CASA DC will provide one-on-one support for youth with incarcerated parents, through mentorship, advocacy, and therapy. The Freedom Child Foundation will provide programming to enhance relationships between youth and their incarcerated parents, coordinate services for parents, and reduce stigma through relationships with national media.
Fulton County Government is a recipient of FY 2022 funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Family-Based Alternative Sentencing program. The Fulton County District Attorney's Crimes Against Children Unit and Adult Diversion Unit are collaborating to strengthen the emotional, physical, and social well-being of court-exposed parents and their children. Program participants are connected to Families First, a community-based organization that provides trauma-informed therapy and supportive services for children and parents. Additionally, case managers will provide supervision under the Adult Diversion Program Unit. Case-supervision goals will focus on restoring the family unit using rehabilitative services such as crisis management & coping skills.
Hope Network is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to implement a new program called Reuniting Parents and Kids (RePAK). RePAK will provide pre- and post-release services to men and women in West Michigan, with the goal of supporting family reunification and long-term family stability. Services will utilize evidence-based approaches such as Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy classes and will include holistic case management, parent support groups, mentoring, employment assistance and job retention support, and facilitation of family engagement activities. Case management services will also help participants get connected with other community resources as needed, including housing, transportation, childcare, and mental health counseling.
Washtenaw County Government is a recipient of FY 2022 funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Family-Based Alternative Sentencing program. Washtenaw County's program is led by the court, which will, in collaboration with the prosecutor's and public defender's offices, provide a pre-plea diversion program for parents/primary caregivers, ages 12 to 25, who are defendants in eligible misdemeanor and felony cases. Participants will be referred to the Corner Health Center (the Corner), a grant subrecipient that will work with participants to create an individualized, customized, holistic service plan to address their health needs. Plans may include behavioral-health assessments, individual therapy, group therapy, and psychiatric services. The Corner also provides primary medical services, and participants and their children will be connected with a primary-care physician (and obstetrical care, if needed). Plans may also include referrals to educational services, community resources, and mentorship programs. Upon successful completion of the program, all charges will be dismissed.
Families First Learning Lab (FFLL) is a recipient of FY 2023 to implement new and enhance existing alternative justice programs for parents facing incarceration and youth exposed to parental incarceration. The goal will be to give parents the support, education, and skills necessary to improve whole-family outcomes through parenting classes, parent-child/teen interaction opportunities, and accessible virtual education platforms to reach rural communities throughout Montana. The anticipated outcomes of these programs include increasing family preservation, improving parental attachment, increasing healthy child development, preventing children from entering the foster care system or entering back into the foster system, improving parenting skills, reducing the likelihood of future involvement in the criminal justice system, and reducing the financial impact on the criminal justice and/or child welfare systems.
Sunrise Health Clinics is a recipient of FY 2022 funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Family-Based Alternative Sentencing program. Sunrise is an integrated health clinic that uses a wraparound, three-tier model of care to restore people to their highest level of functioning. Sunrise's Family First program rehabilitates justice-involved families, with the goals of keeping families intact and alleviating the stress and burden on children that comes from parental incarceration. "Using a moral focus" curriculum comprising daily classes, wellness and family therapy, and direct in-home interventions, this nine-step program focuses on learning concepts and applying skills to prevent recidivism and support family unification.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awarded the first Family-Based Alternative Sentencing grant to Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Office of Children and Youth Services, in December 2021. Lehigh County’s program is implemented by the multidisciplinary, Family-Based Alternative Sentencing Team (FAST), which includes the county’s Office of the District Attorney, Office of the Public Defender, Office of Children and Youth Services, Office of Mental Health, Office of Intellectual Disabilities, Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs, Juvenile Probation Department, and Adult Probation and Parole Department; the Lehigh County Jail; Lehigh Valley Pretrial Services; and two community-based organizations, Salvation Army Children’s Services and Pinebrook Family Answers. The FAST program provides case management and trauma-informed services for caregivers who otherwise would enter the criminal justice system. Their program is scheduled to start July 1, 2022.
First Things First (FTF) is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to implement the Dads Making a Difference (DMD) and Songbird programs as court diversionary initiatives for noncustodial parents behind in child-support payments and facing incarceration. These programs will provide educational resources such as financial literacy and employment information to gain and retain jobs, helping participants remain current on their payments, avoid recidivism, and invest more time with their children.
The Washington Department of Corrections (WADOC) is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to evaluate, refine, and expand services offered within WADOC Parenting Sentencing Alternative (PSA) programs, which are designed to reunify or keep participants with their children and family. PSA requires participants, whether in the Family and Offender Sentencing Alternative (FOSA) or the Community Parenting Alternative (CPA), to follow through with conditions for programming, treatment, and connection to resources and services as determined on a case-by-case basis. The goal of the programs is to break intergenerational incarceration, mentor incarcerated people in parenting skills, and provide access to programs such as mental health and substance use. WADOC will work with the University of Washington and other research partners in evaluating PSA programs statewide.
The Dallas County Commission is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to implement the Dallas County Family Preservation Program. The purpose is to develop a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, trauma-informed, best-practices family-based alternative sentencing program for justice-involved parents/primary caregivers and their children and youth. Expected outcomes include a multi-disciplinary team to identify potential parents/primary caregivers early and to engage, enroll, and provide resources and skills necessary to move cases from the traditional docket to alternatives, which will benefit children, youth, and families by empowering them with healthy life skills, building upon strengths and addressing potential challenges, increasing supportive services, and reducing parental incarceration.
CASA for Children of DC is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to, along with the Freedom Child Foundation, strengthen family-based interventions and support for justice-involved parents and their children and improve their outcomes. CASA DC will provide one-on-one support for youth with incarcerated parents, through mentorship, advocacy, and therapy. The Freedom Child Foundation will provide programming to enhance relationships between youth and their incarcerated parents, coordinate services for parents, and reduce stigma through relationships with national media.
Fulton County Government is a recipient of FY 2022 funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Family-Based Alternative Sentencing program. The Fulton County District Attorney's Crimes Against Children Unit and Adult Diversion Unit are collaborating to strengthen the emotional, physical, and social well-being of court-exposed parents and their children. Program participants are connected to Families First, a community-based organization that provides trauma-informed therapy and supportive services for children and parents. Additionally, case managers will provide supervision under the Adult Diversion Program Unit. Case-supervision goals will focus on restoring the family unit using rehabilitative services such as crisis management & coping skills.
Hope Network is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to implement a new program called Reuniting Parents and Kids (RePAK). RePAK will provide pre- and post-release services to men and women in West Michigan, with the goal of supporting family reunification and long-term family stability. Services will utilize evidence-based approaches such as Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy classes and will include holistic case management, parent support groups, mentoring, employment assistance and job retention support, and facilitation of family engagement activities. Case management services will also help participants get connected with other community resources as needed, including housing, transportation, childcare, and mental health counseling.
Washtenaw County Government is a recipient of FY 2022 funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Family-Based Alternative Sentencing program. Washtenaw County's program is led by the court, which will, in collaboration with the prosecutor's and public defender's offices, provide a pre-plea diversion program for parents/primary caregivers, ages 12 to 25, who are defendants in eligible misdemeanor and felony cases. Participants will be referred to the Corner Health Center (the Corner), a grant subrecipient that will work with participants to create an individualized, customized, holistic service plan to address their health needs. Plans may include behavioral-health assessments, individual therapy, group therapy, and psychiatric services. The Corner also provides primary medical services, and participants and their children will be connected with a primary-care physician (and obstetrical care, if needed). Plans may also include referrals to educational services, community resources, and mentorship programs. Upon successful completion of the program, all charges will be dismissed.
Families First Learning Lab (FFLL) is a recipient of FY 2023 to implement new and enhance existing alternative justice programs for parents facing incarceration and youth exposed to parental incarceration. The goal will be to give parents the support, education, and skills necessary to improve whole-family outcomes through parenting classes, parent-child/teen interaction opportunities, and accessible virtual education platforms to reach rural communities throughout Montana. The anticipated outcomes of these programs include increasing family preservation, improving parental attachment, increasing healthy child development, preventing children from entering the foster care system or entering back into the foster system, improving parenting skills, reducing the likelihood of future involvement in the criminal justice system, and reducing the financial impact on the criminal justice and/or child welfare systems.
Sunrise Health Clinic is a recipient of FY 2022 funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Family-Based Alternative Sentencing program. Sunrise is an integrated health clinic that uses a wraparound, three-tier model of care to restore people to their highest level of functioning. Sunrise's Family First program rehabilitates justice-involved families, with the goals of keeping families intact and alleviating the stress and burden on children that comes from parental incarceration. "Using a moral focus" curriculum comprising daily classes, wellness and family therapy, and direct in-home interventions, this nine-step program focuses on learning concepts and applying skills to prevent recidivism and support family unification.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awarded the first Family-Based Alternative Sentencing grant to Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Office of Children and Youth Services, in December 2021. Lehigh County’s program is implemented by the multidisciplinary, Family-Based Alternative Sentencing Team (FAST), which includes the county’s Office of the District Attorney, Office of the Public Defender, Office of Children and Youth Services, Office of Mental Health, Office of Intellectual Disabilities, Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs, Juvenile Probation Department, and Adult Probation and Parole Department; the Lehigh County Jail; Lehigh Valley Pretrial Services; and two community-based organizations, Salvation Army Children’s Services and Pinebrook Family Answers. The FAST program provides case management and trauma-informed services for caregivers who otherwise would enter the criminal justice system. Their program is scheduled to start July 1, 2022.
First Things First (FTF) is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to implement the Dads Making a Difference (DMD) and Songbird programs as court diversionary initiatives for noncustodial parents behind in child-support payments and facing incarceration. These programs will provide educational resources such as financial literacy and employment information to gain and retain jobs, helping participants remain current on their payments, avoid recidivism, and invest more time with their children.
The Washington Department of Corrections (WADOC) is a recipient of FY 2023 funding to evaluate, refine, and expand services offered within WADOC Parenting Sentencing Alternative (PSA) programs, which are designed to reunify or keep participants with their children and family. PSA requires participants, whether in the Family and Offender Sentencing Alternative (FOSA) or the Community Parenting Alternative (CPA), to follow through with conditions for programming, treatment, and connection to resources and services as determined on a case-by-case basis. The goal of the programs is to break intergenerational incarceration, mentor incarcerated people in parenting skills, and provide access to programs such as mental health and substance use. WADOC will work with the University of Washington and other research partners in evaluating PSA programs statewide.
